Stuff:

Monday, April 30, 2012

I am one week into a challenge I have started for myself. I am heading to Vegas on May 21 and need to tone up. I am not trying to lose weight however if I do I will not complain. My main goal is to get back into strength training. I have started working full time again and have not been to the gym once. I honestly miss my morning spin classes. I don't like a couple of the afternoon instructors. I miss the gym but that doesn't mean i haven't been kicking but at home. I named my challenge Ripped, Run and Ride.

The RIPPED comes from me using Jillian Michaels' Ripped in 30 for strength training. If you know me you know I love Jillian. I love her workout formats. Her book Making the Cut changed my life both personally (met some lovely bunz) and physically. Ripped in 30 is pretty much the same as 30 Day Shred. She uses the 3:2:1 method of:

3 minutes strength
2 minutes cardio
1 minute abs

the video is 3 sets of this. the video runs for about 25 mins per workout. the weights are not super heavy which is perfect for me at home as i don't have any super heavy weights at home. while i am on a Jillian love fest you should also check out her podcasts on itunes. I like listening to them when i run instead of music sometimes. especially on long runs.

The RUN and RIDE part is self explanatory i think. running minimum 12 miles a week and ride when i can. I am easing into riding my road bike this year so i don't kill my neck and lower back. i don't think i will be able to ride my bike to work this summer which is a bit of a bummer. the route i need to take i very heavy in construction right now since they are building a new bridge and fixing the highway.

so my goal is to do 20 workouts in the next 25 days. all workouts will include strength and the run/ride comes secondary.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

So i did my first ever Vancouver Sun Run today. Living in vancouver and running for as long i have it is very odd that i just lost my sun run virginity. Why have i avoided this race? Maybe 50,000 people trying to complete a 10k? Complete madness? Well the race did have all that but i did survive. this year there was only 48,904 entrants.

I got into vancouver in plenty of time to park, pee and get to my start line corral. I even had time to play words with friends with amee. The race started at 9. My corral didn't start until 9:26ish. (first finisher was 29 mins something). It was really crowded and i was super cold. Shaking. convulsing. it wasn't pretty. to think i had originally thought i was going to wear a tank? it was about 9c but windy.i decided just before i left from my car to change into my long sleeve shirt.

Side note: have you ever tried to swap out a sport bra for another in your car in a very busy parkade? Very awkward!

Ok, back to the race. very crowded. Many places i don't believe i could have ran any faster if i wanted too. I could only do it if i was super aggressive and pushy. with approx 15-20,000 people ahead of me that would be a lot of work though.

Oh, i forgot this is my first race in 4 years i didn't use the garmin. It was very hard for me to leave it home. very hard, like i almost turned back. However, i enjoyed racing without it. Well i think i did? no i did. I did wear a normal watch to get a general idea of time but i wasn't constantly watching it which i tend to do with my garmin. i ran behind these 2 dudes half the race but of course i am not in this picture. the overalls were really tight!

This run does go over 2 bridges. Not too hilly but getting onto the bridges the on ramps were super steep. I knew this before hand so that is when i chose to do my my short walk/water breaks.

ok, the finish line area. first the last km is over a bridge. so that means the last half km or so is really down hill! excellent! except you are squished into an off ramp so it is hard to run fast or people were running out of control fast. so about 200m or so from the finish line i kick it up. i was kinda ticked i had so much kick. a little regret i had so much left. i think i even muttered to myself "it is go time" since i knew i was so close to the 1 hour mark. so i kick it into gear and dude ahead of me stops dead and i run full speed into him swearing and a yelling. i kinda rolled off him. neither of us fell. guy behind us is screaming at the guy (i never actually saw the screamers guys face). i hit the finish line and know i have done the race in 60 mins give or take 30 secs. i blame the idiot walker for my 13 seconds away from my goal. RUNNERS MOVE TO THE RIGHT! seriously there were signs every 100 m or so that said this.

you notice my category is off? i have emailed them to see if i can get that changed.
there were over 24000 women compared to 17000 something men. if would be in the 3000something of 24000 if i was in the women's category.